The present invention relates to an apparatus for driving medical appliances, e.g., such as an artificial heart driving apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for driving medical appliances which can be self-propelled with a patient riding thereon.
It is usually impossible for some sick persons, particularly those with a serious illness who require, for example, an artificial heart (auxiliary heart), to move about because they have not the strength to walk and can not survive without a relatively large driving apparatus for the artificial heart being connected to their bodies. However, even such patients are relatively vigorous in many cases when the artificial heart (auxiliary heart) is operated satisfactorily, so it is not desirable to deprive such patients of their freedom of movement for a long period.
If an artificial heart driving apparatus can be mounted on an electric-powered wheelchair, this permits even those patients who carry an artificial heart on them to move about at any desired time. But an attempt to realize that will be accompanied by various dangers. For example, upon alighting from the wheelchair, if the wheelchair is erroneously moved after the patient has alighted therefrom, the patient will be exposed to danger because he is connected through tubes of a limited length to the artificial heart driving apparatus mounted on the wheelchair. In case of an electric-powered wheelchair, since the wheelchair, namely, artificial heart driving apparatus is readily moved by the simple operation of a lever or the like, the patient will get into serious danger if the control lever is accidentally caught by the hands, clothes, etc. of the patient when he is going to board on or alight from the wheelchair, or if the control lever is operated by mistake by those who are unfamiliar to the apparatus.
Further, when an artificial heart driving apparatus is mounted on an electric-powered wheelchair, tubes are preferably made longer which serve to connect between the artificial heart driving apparatus and an artificial heart, i.e., the patient, for the purpose of enlarging a sphere of movement of the patient. However, the longer tubes result in the danger that the tubes will be crushed under the patient's feet, the wheelchair itself, other moving equipment, etc. The fact that the tubes used in driving the artificial heart are crushed means a stoppage in functioning of the artificial heart. Since such patients are inclined to be weak in their physical strength in many cases, such stoppages are a serious influence on lives of the patients in the events not only if the tubes are broken, but also if the artificial heart is stopped even temporarily.
On the other hand, the artificial heart driving apparatus has a fairly large size because it requires a number of solenoid valves, tanks, pressure sources and other components, as described in, for example, the United Patent Application Ser. No. 480,181 (filed on Mar. 28, 1983). Accordingly, it is difficult to directly mount such large-sized apparatus into the vacant space of the electric-powered wheelchair with a small size.